Farm Internship Project

Provide a copy of an IRS Schedule F or similar IRS tax form stating the farm's gross sales of the business with your application.

Attach the educational curriculum the farm will use to provide interns training to your application.

Send the application and associated materials to the address provided on the application.

The 2014 Legislature authorized L&I to establish the Farm Internship Project to allow interns to safely work on small farms to learn about farming practices and obtain hands-on experience in farming activities.

Notice: The 2017 legislature added 4 counties and extended the project until December 31, 2018. As of July 23, 2017, Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis and Walla Walla counties are eligible to participate.

Counties included in this project are Chelan, Clark, Cowlitz, Grant, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Lewis, Lincoln, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Walla Walla, Whatcom, and Yakima. Farms in these counties with annual sales of less than $250,000 per year are eligible to enroll in this program.

The information below explains how farms and individuals can participate.

Important information you should know about the Farm Internship Project

The purpose of this project is for small farms to hire individuals who are interested in learning about farming practices. Participating farms are exempt from the wage requirements under the Minimum Wage Act (Chapter 49.46 RCW) (app.leg.wa.gov), and interns are not required to receive pay or any other type of compensation.

Upon receipt of the application and necessary documentation L&I will review it for completeness. Once L&I has received all required information, a determination to approve the certificate will be made within 15 days, if the following criteria is met:

The farm has annual sales less than $250,000.

All of the owners or partners of the farm provide regular labor to, and participate in, the management of the farm.

Yes. If a farm is denied, notification will be sent by mail. The farm may appeal within 15 days. If reasonable grounds exist, the Employment Standards Program representative may grant a review of the appeal.